Bed tray



June 7, 1949. I J, J, sc u z 2,472,549

BED TRAY Filed Aug. 23, 1946 x 1NVENTO&

pbw 561/0125 Patented June 7, i949 BED TRAY John J. 'Schulze, Chicago, 111., assignor of onehalf to S. W. Johns, Chicago, Ill.

Application August 23, 1946, Serial No. 692,664

3 Claims. (01. 287-42) My invention relates to folding bed-trays and more particularly to a joint member for use in such trays.

It is an object of my invention to provide a folding bed-tray wherein the plane of the tray surface may be rotated at will to permit adjustment thereof to the angle most suitable for the reading, writing, eating, etc.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved bed tray in which the legs are positively locked in position so as to prevent collapse when in use.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide an improved bed tray in which the legs can be folded flat for easy and compact storage thereof.

My invention further resides in features of construction, combination, and arrangement, whereby an improved bed tray is provided in which all the parts can be made by screw machine or punch press operations in a simple and economical manner and in which the material utilized in the legs and top can be changed without effecting the assembly, thereby enabling construction of a wide range of models using various types of materials in accordance with the price range desired.

The novel features which I believe to be characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. My invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view of a bed tray incorporating one embodiment of my invention in position for use as a table.

Figure 2 is a view of the same bed tray with the legs folded in position for storage,

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the joint member of the bed tray taken from the side thereof,

Figure 4 is a view of the same joint with the leg is position preparatory to folding,

- Figure 5 is a view through section VV of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a view through section VI-VI of Figure 5 and Figure 7 is an enlarged view corresponding to Figure 3 but with the bed tray at a substantial angle with, respect to the horizontal plane supporting the legs.

- Referring now to Figure 1 the bed-tray working 2 surface which may, for example, consist of a sheet of plastic material such as Bakelite is shown generally at l0. Rail l I is provided at one end of surface If! to support books or other material thereon when the surface Ill is raised at an angle to the horizontal as shown in the dotted lines of Figure 1'. Joint support members, shown generally at [2, are attached to surface II] at a common distance from rail I l and rotatably sup port surface Ii about the support members, shown generally at l3, which are rigidly attached to leg members Hi. It will be observed, that leg members Hi each comprises two legs and have flat portions Ma disposed to support surface Hi When it is in the horizontal position so as simultaneously to prevent surface It from being given a downward angle with respect to the plane of support and to supplement the rotatable support through joint support member l2 and members l3.

Figure 2 shows the underside of the bed-tray with legs It in the folded position for storage. It will be observed that in this position, the complete unit is substantially fiat with rail H projecting in one direction and joint support I2 in the other but with no portions extending outside of the surface 10.

The structure of the joint supports shown generally at l2 and the support members shown generally at I3 will now be described with refer ence to Figure 3 which shows an enlarged view of these members with the bed-tray in the horizontal position. From this figure, it will be observed that joint support l2 consists of members I6 which is attached by screw it or other suitable member to table surface [0. Member [6 has at its opposite end, spherical member I! which has a series of projections I9, 26, and 2|. It will further be observed that the support member shown generally at l3 includes plate 22 having circular hole 23 at the end thereof and enlarged portion 24 at the end of hole 23 closest to leg member M. It will be noted that enlarged portion 23 is of suflicient size to accommodate projection 20 which is located at the point of sphere I! most remote from surface Ill.

The structure of this invention is further illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6 which show three dif-v ferent views thereof when surface Ill is rotated to the particular angular position relative to legs 14 at which legs 14 may be folded. In Figure 4, it will be observed that in this position the enlarged portion 24 of hole 23 in plate 22 coincides in position with the projection 20 of sphere I! so that projection 20 does not oppose rotation of member 22 in a direction away from the observer (that is, about the axis through projections [9 and 2|). This is evident from Figure which shows a view through section VV of Figure 4, the above described rotation corresponding to counterclockwise rotation of member 22 about the center of spherical member I! as seen in that figure. The position of leg l4 after rotation is shown by. the dotted lines of Figure '5.

The construction of member 25 which coacts with member 22 to support tray ID on spherical end I! of member I6 is evident from examination of Figures 5 and 6. From Figure 5 it will be ob served that member 25 is of flat shape as viewed from section VV of Figure 4 and that it-is held tight against member 22 by means of screw .26 and nut 21 to cause frictional engagement of members 22 and 25 against both the spherical end H of member 16 and leg member I4. The engage.- ment with leg I4 is supplemented by pressing members 22 and 25-into holes 32 of leg I4. From Figure 6, however, it will beobserved that-member 2,5 differs from member '22 in that the hole 23a located therein has anextended portion 28 which extends to the end thereof to form a bifurcated shapehaving prongs 29 and 39. The bifurcated shape permits member 25 to swing about support section 3| of member? when the legs are folded. This is evident from Figure 6 which shows the opening therebetween.

It will be observed that in the cross sectional view of Figure 6, the projections 19 and 21 of sphere I! of member l6 contain conical holes. Thes holes are produced when-member I5 is ma.- oh ned a a e of .no consequence in ofa a e operation of this invention-is concerned. It will be o rv o r, that sin e thes hole can be made without influencing the performance of the bed-table, the fabrication of the table is thereby facilitated and the cost thereof correspondingly reduced.

Figures 3 and '7 show enlarged views of the joint supp rt I a d su r m ber [-3 with t e table surface 1 0 in the plane of support position and a large an l with respect th r to resi estiyely. It will be observed that "in .euchpase :legs l4 are held in a plane perpendieula-r to the surface Ill and cannot be moved therefrom. In the case of Figure 3, rotation of the leg in one direction is prevented bythe engagementof projection of sphere H with the traysnpp r member .22 and rotation in the opposite direction is prevented by engagement .of the projection 12.10 of sphere H with tray support member :25. ;Simi.-- larly, in the case of Figure! where=the talble surface to is positioned at a large angle relative to the plane of support rotation ,of the legs to, the folded position is opposed by projections 20 and 2| acting against the .edgeof hole 23 of plate .22 in one direction and the edgeof hole 23a of plate in the opposite direction. Prongs 2 9 of plate 25 also act againstsupporting section 31 of member IE to supplement this support. Thus the leg I0 is prevented from assuming the folding position unless it is in the special'positiqn shown in Figure 4.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention I choose the relative arrangement of the members such that the angular position of tabletop I!) with respect to the planebf support when ,leg

members M are .in the position .tobe folded is an.

an le seldom de i ed by p rson u in the ta le.

Thus at all operative positions of the table .the

l gs are lock d a ainst collapsing .while the table :ducfion achieved. structure, for example, requires only two operations per leg, these being the operation of attach- .4 surface l0 may be moved to any desired angular position with respect to the horizontal.

When legs M are in the folded position of Figure 2 and the dotted lines of Figure 5, the supporting engagement is between the member I! and the holes 23 and 23a in members 22 and 25 respectively. As projection 20 of member I1 is of smaller size than hole 23 of member 22, the axis ofimember 22, thelegs may bezrotated-about the axis of member I2, thus permitting adjustment of the legs to the position most suitable for stor- 18 O ne of the features of this invention resides in the simplicity of construction and ease of pro- Assembly of the complete ing joint support I2 by means of screw l8 and attaching leg 14 and members 22 and 25 to the spherical portion ll of member 16 by screw 26 and nut. 2']. Thus thecomplete operative structure is assembled by merely attaching four screws. Fur-.- thermore, the elements used in the combination are all readily manufactured. The screws 18 and 25, together with nut 21, are of course of standard size and manufacture. Member I 2 may readily be produced on a screw machine or a lathe and may be made out of any readily machinable ma.- terial since the structure thereof has no sections that may possibly fail. The manufacture of members 22 and 25 is likewise simple as these members may be stamped by punch press operations.

It will further be observed that construction of leg members l4 requires only bending operations and that these members may be made of tubing to achieve minimum Weight and maxi.- mum ease of bending. Alternatively, legs 14 may be made of plastic material, such as Lucite, so as to present a pantionlarly attractive hp.- pearance. It should be further noted that these legs are shaped to give a modernistic touch to the entire assembly, thereby contributing to the cheerful surroundings desirable in a sick room.

It will be observed that the projections I3, 20 and 21, together with the point at which the portion .3! .of support I2 is attached t o the sphere I1, define a plane through the axis of sphere Ifl. This is the plane of the cross section of Figure 6 and from that view it will be evident that the cross section passes directly through the portion 31 .of .the support l2 and through the projections or protuberances i9, 20 and 2.1.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will .of course be understood that I .do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications both in the elements dis.- closed and their cooperative arrangement may be ;.made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. 1, of course, contemplate .by the appended claims to cover any such modifications that fall .within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

Iclaim as my invention:

*1. A rotatable joint for two spaced members, said joint including a sphere, means connecting said sphere .to one of said members, said sphere having three projections spaced at right angles in a common plane through the center thereof, one.of said projections being opposite said means, and means connecting said sphere to the other of said members, .said ,means including a pair of spaced parallel plates having circular .openings to en age said sphere, the openingofione of said plates having an extension to the end thereof ca a e o accommodatin sa d i s and the other of said openings having an extension to accommodate said one projection and located oppositely to the opening of said one plate, thus rotatably to support said members about one axis and to permit rotating of said members about an axis transverse to said first axis when said members have a predetermined angular relation about said first axis.

2. A rotatable joint for two spaced members, said joint including a sphere, means connecting a point on said sphere to one of said members, said sphere having a plurality of projections defining a plane through the center thereof in connection with said point, one of said projections being opposite said means, means connecting said sphere to the other of said members, said last means including a pair of spaced parallel plates each having an opening to receive said sphere, the opening of one of said plates having an extension to the end thereof capable of accommodating said first means, and the opening of the other of said plates having an extension to accommodate said one projection and located oppositely to the opening of said one plate, thus rotatably to support said members about one axis while permitting rotation of said members about an axis transverse to said one axis when said members have a predetermined angular relation about said one axis.

3. A rotatable joint for two spaced members, said joint including a sphere, means connecting a point on said sphere to one of said members, said sphere having a plurality of projections defining a plane through the center thereof in connection with said point, one of said projections being opposite said means, means connecting said sphere to the other of said members, said means including a pair of spaced parallel plates each having an opening to receive said sphere, the opening of one of said plates extending through the end thereof to define a bifurcated end portion having a slot of less width than the diameter of said opening to accommodate said first means, and the opening of the other of said plates having an extension to accommodate said one projection and located oppositely to the opening of said one plate, thus rotatably to support said members about one axis while permitting rotation of said members about an axis transverse to said one axis when said members have a predetermined angular relation about said one axis.

JOHN J. SCHULZE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 650,337 Nicholls May 22, 1900 815,947 Fergusson Mar. 27, 1906 1,394,526 Amsden Oct, 25, 1921 2,328,360 Rigoulot Aug. 31, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 7,414 Great Britain 1911 

